Researchers Identify Ovarian Cancer Biomarkers

Researchers have identified markers unique to the cells of blood vessels running through ovarian tumors. The finding, while preliminary, could one day improve screening, diagnosis and treatment for this disease. The team of researchers from the University of Michigan, University of Pennsylvania, and universities in Greece and Italy, used a laser technique to isolate blood vessel cells from 21 ovarian tumors and four normal ovarian tissue samples. From there, they were able to determine which genes the vascular cells expressed. The results identified more than 70 markers that were present in large amounts in the blood vessels of cancer tissue but not in the vessels of normal tissues. The researchers went on to study in detail 12 markers that had not previously been linked to tumor blood vessels. The study appears in the March 1 issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology. "Some of these genes, depending on how highly expressed they were in the tumor vasculature, were also prognostic of a patient's survival..... Whole article: "www.sciencedaily.com":[ http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/03/070307152750.htm]

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